Nikon KeyMission 360 Review

Nikon is a very known camera brand. They make fantastic DSLR cameras that are also used by professionals from all over the world. Nikon has also decided to bring their knowledge to the action camera industry. Besides the two other action cameras they have built, Nikon has now also created a 360 degree version. It’s a great news for those looking for a 360 degree action camera to record VR videos. Most of the current 360 cameras are bad. The video quality just isn’t worth the money. Hopefully Nikon has managed to change that. Well we will know for sure by the end of this Nikon KeyMission 360 review.

In The Box

Nikon KeyMission 360

Charging AC Adapter

MicroUSB cable

Base Adaoter, Base Mount F, Base Mount C

Silicone Jacket, Head-Mounted Display

Lens Protector, Underwater Lens Protector

Design & Accessories

Nikon KeyMission 360 has the most interesting design out of all 360 degree action cameras. It has this rectangular shape with a lens on both sides. It’s also made out of black plastic. Feels really solid and nice actually. The lens is obviously made out of glass. Both of the lenses are huge. It’s also pretty big with a total dimension of 66×61×60mm / 2.6×2.5×2.4″. It’s also pretty heavy, with a weight of 198g / 7oz.

The action camera has two buttons. One on the top for recording/power and one on the side for capturing photos. There are also plenty of LEDs that let you know if the camera is working or not. The right side has a compartment for the battery, MicroUSB, MicroHDMI ports and a MicroSD card slot. Bottom of the action camera has a threaded tripod hole for mounts. I do have an issue with the one button feature. The recording/power button reacts to the slightest touch so the action camera can accidentally start recording.

The body of the action camera is also waterproof up to 30m / 98ft. You do have to use a underwater lens protector before jumping into the water. You can also use a plain lens protector to keep the lens from getting damaged. Mostly from being scratched. That’s the biggest downside of having a lens make up to 75% of the action camera. You also get a nice selection of mounts and an adapter to attach the camera to. Pretty much everything is included to get started with the action camera.

Video & Features

Nikon KeyMission 360 has a 4K video resolution support. It can record videos in the following resolutions and frame rates: 4K 24fps; 1920p 24fps; 960p 30fps; 640p 120fps; 320p 240fps. While that sounds amazing, and the action camera does actually have pretty great video quality, there is a massive downside.

Watch the video and you’ll see what I mean. The video quality is pretty good. I mean there is some blur there but it’s pretty smooth and definitely better than most other 360 degree action cameras. The massive let down however is the automatic stitching. Like it makes the footage look bad, really bad. And the worst part is that you can’t fix it manually. So in the end you are left with a bad ruined video.

The only place where I have noticed this to work is where there aren’t any people or in a stable surrounding. And even then you have to place it carefully so you don’t get weird parts. And that kind of ruins the idea of an action camera. While I really disliked the video quality of the Ricoh Theta series, their stitching was on point. I didn’t get anything like this while using it. And it’s not just me either, you can search all over youtube and notice people being unhappy.

Photos are also both good and bad. The good part is that the photos look really good. The quality is fantastic. The bad part is that you can capture a photo every 8 seconds because it takes that long to process it.

Then we also have the battery life. The annoying part is that there is only a LED light for the battery, which means that you don’t really know how much is left. You can expect around 70 minutes of recording with 4K resolution at 24fps. The light does change to orange once it gets low but that’s still not very helpful. Another thing that I have noticed is that the action camera gets super hot while recording with 4K for a while. And when I mean hot, it gets so hot that it shuts down.

To make up for not having an LCD screen, Nikon has their own iOS and Android app. You can connect the action camera to your smartphone via WiFi or Bluetooth. The app itself is called the SnapBridge 360. The app itself is pretty easy to use. You can view live feed, start recording and change settings from the app. You can also check the battery life from the app but it kind of lies. Another thing I noticed was that the App didn’t want to pair up at times with the action camera. That was pretty annoying, especially as the only way to change modes/settings is through the app.

Conclusion

While I do like the KeyMission 360 video and photo quality, the bad stitching just ruins it for me. I feel like it ruins the VR 360 video “experience”. You can also search for Nikon KeyMission 360 on YouTube, it’s talked about by numerous channels as well. So I’d be careful before buying the action camera. Especially for $500. Sadly the bad stitching stops it from being a great 360 degree action camera.

While the Nikon KeyMission 360 has a good video quality, the bad stitching can really ruin your video. So be careful before purchasing this action camera.